Embracing the Realities of a Professional Sprinter

BY DESTINY OGALI

Many of us have dreams, goals, aspirations and things that we desire to achieve. However, the reality is that it takes a lot of patience, resilience & consistency to enable these dreams to come to fruition.

Along the way, there are certain realities that we will have to embrace. One of these is that we will lose some races.

Embrace failures

Losing is a part of being an athlete. Some races will go very well, and some won’t go according to plan. I’ve always heard the saying “you learn more from a loss than from a win”, and I would definitely agree with this.

My experiences with losing

I have lost many races since I started athletics several years ago. Yes, it’s painful and frustrating but in every loss, I’ve been able to learn something.

When we learn things, we can adapt and make the necessary changes to make the improvements needed so as not to make the same mistakes next time. To win, we need to learn how to lose gracefully. We have to embrace the process of learning with patience and humility. When we embrace that, we can then begin to progress.

It’s all a learning curve. No experience is wasted!

How do professional sprinters run?

Different athletes will have their unique ways of running. Ultimately, the fundamental techniques that the athlete is taught will vary completely depending on the coach and their training philosophies and methods.

Just relax...

For example, I’ve been coached to believe that the best way to run is to relax. Following a relaxed route means the muscles aren’t overly tight or tense, but instead flow back and forth smoothly to minimise wasted motion.

A reality that professional sprinters will have to embrace is the fact that their technique could potentially change over the years as they progress and get stronger. The more we train, the more our body changes and adapts as we get stronger and grow older. Due to this fact, your technique will likely change a bit as the years go on. 

These changes (however minimal they may be) should be embraced, as they show a willingness to move forward with your running. Your block settings may change as you make technical changes to your positions when you push out and that is okay! 

However, the way you run in training when you're healthy is how you will run in competition. The body will go into “auto-pilot” as such where the muscles will simply do what they would normally do.

Change is normal

This is why it is so important to embrace the reality that the way you run will most likely change. If we fail to embrace it, we can miss out on the potential performance benefits of adjustments. For me, I’ve had to make various changes to the way I run over the years.

What's more, different coaches will have varying opinions or perspectives on how they view you as an athlete. Being open-minded to believe what they say can be helpful depending on how well you know your body. 

A lot of the time, it’s simply trial and error. Have a go and find what works best for you! But embrace the opportunity to make changes to discover what suits you best.

How many hours do professional sprinters train?

This can massively vary depending on a few things. Firstly, it depends on what your body can handle.

Even as a professional, we all have a limit to what we can take and too much load on the body can lead to serious injury if we aren’t careful. Having a programme that suits your bodily needs & functions will require major amounts of communication with your relevant team.

Sprint training in a nutshell

You can expect that any professional sprinter is likely to train a minimum of 4-5 times a week with sessions ranging from 2-4 hours. Training sessions will have specific focuses depending on what the coach intends to work on. Some sessions may take longer and some may take less time.

The warm-up tends to take a considerable amount of time. This is where much of the technical emphasis can be placed when doing drills. Those initial movement patterns can be implemented in the warm-up to begin developing muscle memory. Once you get into the flow of the session it can feel like it’s going quite fast.

I’d say another key thing to understand is that it isn’t so much about how long you are training for, but more about what you are doing at that time.

A time to reflect

You have to ask yourself the following...

• Am I getting what I need in these sessions?
• Do I feel like I am improving?
• Do these sessions need to be as long or as short as they are?

We can sometimes think the more we train, the better we get. In some cases, that could very well be the truth. But this depends on the individual.

Less is more

There are times when you may be training a lot more (winter time) and periods where you train significantly less (summer) depending on what your coach wants to do.

To ensure you don’t run the risk of overtraining, I would massively suggest paying attention to how you feel. This doesn't just apply to training days, but also to rest days. It’s normal to feel spent after training.

But, if you are feeling this way daily, then something may be wrong. You always want to check and evaluate where you are. Your coach could be setting up things for you, but all in all your feedback is required in order to help ensure you are healthy and well enough to train and compete well.

That’s the beauty of training. When done well, you can reap the benefits and enjoy competition.

Look at the bigger picture

It’s more complex than just setting some runs.

It takes planning, routine, experience and communication to assemble a comprehensive training plan. Knowing the athlete's strengths & weaknesses is key to ensure all boxes are being ticked in terms of what the athlete may need.

A key thing that the athlete will need to embrace is patience. Progress takes time. You may not see the full benefits of the training right away, but remain patient. Embrace the process of learning and growing. Stay in communication with your coaches and listen to your body.

What is the secret to sprinting faster?

The secret is… there is no secret!

Sprinting faster comes from consistent training and dedication. Learning the proper way of running is the first step to take.

A coach will be able to teach you the necessary drills; movement patterns and energy systems involved in high-level sprinting. Various exercises and teaching prompts can be shown and taught to help an athlete learn how to run correctly. The process can not be cheated in any way.

What are these sprinting drills like?

They're actually very repetitive, which is very similar to when you are learning any skill.

I spent a lot of time learning drills before I was actually able to run. A significant portion of my sessions were centred on learning the drills, what they did for me and then being taught how to do them properly. Even now, I am still learning more about which drills I prefer and how they help prepare me to race.

Once you’ve learned the drills, you can then begin to put those movement patterns into practice in the form of strides.

Strides are technical runs done at around 60-70% of your max where you can find and work on your running mechanics and rhythm. Much like dancing, sprinting is very rhythmical.

Once you find your flow, it’ll feel like you're floating on air. It’s a truly beautiful sensation.

Don't forget to relax!

This also comes with relaxation. Even though we are moving fast and working our muscles hard, everything should remain relaxed and smooth to avoid tensing up. The more tense we are, the quicker we fatigue and the slower we go.

The emphasis on relaxation was always made apparent between me and my coach in training sessions which really helped me improve my running. Once you can run with proper technique, you can then increase the intensity to see whether or not your mechanics will hold up at faster speeds.

It's easier to run relaxed when going slowly, the real test is whether our body can withstand the higher impacts whilst remaining calm and collected. This can be monitored and progressed over time. Faster runs are always useful as you want to become accustomed to running fast regularly so that when you race it’s simply second nature.

How should sprinters use starting blocks?

The blocks are another area that requires significant technical consideration. It most definitely isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the blocks.

Different athletes will have different settings, movement patterns and body positions when pushing out. The key is to ensure you as the athlete aren’t over-pushing or under-pushing.

You want to be attacking back into the track to project yourself forward horizontally instead of vertically. When you push vertically, all of the force you’ve created will be travelling upwards as opposed to forwards which will hinder your speed. The arms have to be aggressive to ensure you don’t fall over, seeing as your body will be in a lower position initially upon your first step out of the blocks.

The pressure will be on...

The main thing to embrace as a professional sprinter will be the fact that as you reach a higher level, the margins become tighter.

It’ll be the small incremental things that could cost you a race. Even though you may train so much more, your times may not decrease as much as they used to. This isn’t to say that you are doing something wrong per se, this simply comes with the fine margins involved with high-level sprinting.

Don't ever give up!

Remain motivated, steadfast and diligent throughout! It’ll come at the right time. The right coach will be able to help explain the processes involved in high-level sprinting and the demands on the body.

I’m hoping that this summary is helpful for all of you in understanding some of the realities that come with being a professional sprinter. Ultimately, different athletes will have had different experiences. I would also massively encourage you to try and reach out to any athletes that you want to engage with to gain any knowledge that you are looking for.

I am also happy to help wherever I can, so please do reach out whenever! There is lots of information available, we simply have to go out and ask for it!

The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be.

About Destiny Ogali

Destiny is a sprinting athlete who competes for Harrow AC, and he is incredibly passionate about helping other sprinters and athletes go further in their athletic journeys!

He already has experience in discussing athletics topics with others through The Visions Podcast, where he has sat down and spoken with some great athletes, including Desiree Henry and Aidan Syers! 

You can find Destiny's sprint performances on his Power of 10 profile.

Instagram: @destinyogali & @thevisionspod